wav - aiff difference ?

clipperer · Post by **clipperer** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:49 am

anybody? besides that its just a deafult sound format in different oss

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:58 am

nope. same thing.

.lm.

jerry123 · Post by **jerry123** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:11 am

both PCM audio.

Silverfish · Post by **Silverfish** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:23 am

AIFF can contain sample data. WAV cannot.

TB

clipperer · Post by **clipperer** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:26 am

thanx

inis · Post by **inis** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:28 am

Correct me if im wrong, but can you have high bit rates with AIFF? like a 32bit AIFF? Or even 24 for that matter.

The one reason i dont personally enev think about messing around with AIFF is because theres plenty of PC guys that can never use a sample i hand them in that format.

henry ford · Post by **henry ford** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:29 am

Silverfish wrote:AIFF can contain sample data. WAV cannot.

TB

looks like you were wrong leisure muffin, or do you have your own definition of the word 'difference' ?

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:14 am

uhhhh, ok... i'm not sure what he means by sample data, but as far as i know, they are both PCM as jerry123 says.

i might be wrong.

.lm.

jerry123 · Post by **jerry123** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:26 am

I would like to learn more about the sample data in question as well.
Is this the same as a timestamp?
I remember Protools using SDII files that would hold timestamp data so if you recorded a clip of audio that started at the 1 minute mark, you could import that clip into a session and it would jump to the 1 minute mark it was origonally recorded at. This was implemented into wav's as Broadcast WAV.
Is sample data a different idea?

Silverfish · Post by **Silverfish** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:34 am

I don't know too much about a timestamp or Broadcast WAV, and I personally prefer WAV to AIFF. I too was unaware of the sample data that can be stored with an AIFF until the other day. I think zoning and root key info, along with a few other things I can't recall are included, and a lot of the functionality of that data is dependant on the software you're using. For instance, in one of my music tech classes we stored root key and zone info in an AIFF file using Peak on a Mac. We then opened the file using a sampler module in Reaktor 5, but the zone information was not interpreted. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. Hope this helps.

jerry123 · Post by **jerry123** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:42 am

I think I get it. More like sampler data. I've always understood sample data to simply mean digital audio.

It seems that both .wav and .aiff use header data that tells whatever software its in what bitrate and frequency, file name, # of channels and so on.

Everything I've read describes both as PCM that has had the headers modified to Windows or Mac for back when they were not as compatible.

When I was in school SDII was preferred but its only for Mac still I believe.

I'll read some more now.

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:43 am

well, audio quality will be the same, because both are PCM (pulse code modulation) audio.

Ahhh, so you mean sampler data, like loop points? I don't really know about that. I know that peak has it's own file type that save regions, loop points, etc along with the audio, but i'm not sure about aiff or wav being able to have such data. I just don't know.

.lm.

amo · Post by **amo** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:10 am

leisuremuffin wrote:well, audio quality will be the same, because both are PCM (pulse code modulation) audio.

Ahhh, so you mean sampler data, like loop points? I don't really know about that. I know that peak has it's own file type that save regions, loop points, etc along with the audio, but i'm not sure about aiff or wav being able to have such data. I just don't know.

.lm.

A wav can contain sample loop data etc... Proof is each time I open a Live rendered wav in Sound Forge, it contains an illegal loop marker

.
I believe, but could be wrong, that the only difference is the header of the file....